Thomas h



(No Model.)

' T; H. DONLON.

JACK.

' Patented June 2, 1896.

r I I. I Inventor.

Witnesses:

" 1 1 UNITED STATES- PATENT. OFFICE.

THOMAS H. DONLON, OF ONEIDA, NEW YORK.

JACK.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,209, dated June 2, 1896. 7 Application flled January 31,1894. Serial No. 498,577. (No model.)

To aZZ whom/3t may concern:

Be it known that I,'THoMAs H. DoNLoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oneida, in the county of Madison and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Jacks for Stretching Fence-Wire and Raising Weights; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in jacks for stretching wire and raising weights; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of the various parts, as will be hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a tool or implement for use on the farm capable of serving the double purpose of stretching the wire in building wire fences and in lifting or raising heavy weights. This object is attained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of my improved jack or other implement; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 3, a front view of a portion of the jack; Fig. 4, a transverse section on line 0c of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, the application of the device to stretching a fencewire; Fig. 6, a detail view of the bifurcated pawl, and Fig. 7 a detail plan view of the wire-locking dogs.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates the base of my improved jack, and projecting from said base are two parallel bars 2 2, each bar being provided on its inner side with a rail 3. These rails form guides for a sliding rack-bar 4, which is provided with grooves 5, into which said rails are received. Each guide-bar is provided with a projecting lug 6, which is bored to receive a shaft or bolt 7, on which are pivoted the arms 8 of a bifurcated pawl 9. Said pawl is provided with a lug 10, against which bears one end of a spring 11, the other end being securedto one of the lugs 6, said spring serving to hold the pawl normally in engagement with the teeth of the sliding rack-bar.

The numeral 12 indicates an operating-lever which is provided with a slot 13, through which passes the shaft or bolt 7, and with a beveled end 14 for engaging the teeth of the rack-bar. The said lever is pivoted on said bolt or shaft between the arms of the bifurcated pawl, and the slot 13 is of a length sufficient to allow the inner or beveled end of the lever to readily engage the teeth-of the sliding rack-bar when the outer end of said lever is raised.

One end of the sliding rack-bar is provided with a head 15 and the other end with a projecting base-piece 16, said head and basepiece serving as supports for weights which it is desired to raise. The base-piece 16 is provided with a slot 17, and pivoted to the sliding rack-bar is a wed ging-dog 18, provided with a head 19, having a beveled corrugated side 20. The base 1 is also provided with a slot 21, and a wedging-dog 22, similar to the dog 18, is pivoted to one of the parallel bars. The dogs 18 and 22 operate, respectively, in the slots 17 and 21, and are designed to wedge and firmly hold a fence-wire, either round or flat, in said slots when the device is used in stretching the wires in fence-building.

While I prefer to bevel one side of the heads of'the wedging-dogs, as shown in Fig. 3, it will be apparent that both sides of said heads may be parallel and the side walls of the slots 17 and 21 may be beveled. In either case a tight wedging or gripping action is obtained.

In operating my improved jack as a fencewire stretcher said jack is placed with its base against one side of the post in the position shown in Fig. 5. The fence-wire is laid in the slots 17 and 21, and the wedgingdog 18, with the wire (if it be round) resting in a groove 23 of the head 19, is pushed into the slot 17 the wedging form of the head forcing said wire against the side of the slot and securely holding it against the force exerted to stretch the wire. By manipulating the operating-lever the sliding rack-bar is fed or forced out from between the parallel bars, stretching the wire in its movement. If the wire is not sufficiently stretched when the sliding rack-bar has been moved its entire working length, the dog 22 is forced in the slot 21 to wedge and hold the wire, so that it may be released fromits binding engagement in slot 17 and the sliding rack-bar run back to its normal position to enable the operator to further stretch the Wire by wedging it in slot 17, then releasing it at slot 21 and operatin g the lever to again force the sliding rackbar outward. As soon as the wire is stretched sufliciently tight it is fastened to the post in the usual manner and the operation repeated at the next post.

The device is simple in construction and efficient in operation, being equally adapted for the purpose of stretching fence-Wire or raising weights, and forms a very useful article 0n the farm.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the base and the parallel guide-bars having projecting lugs, of a rack-bar slidable between said guide-bars and provided with a base-piece having a slot therein and with a pivoted wedging-dog, anda spring-actuated pawl and an operatingdever loosely pivoted on a shaft journaled in said projecting lugs, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the slotted base provided with parallel guide-bars having projecting lugs and a pivoted wedging-dog adapted to operate in the slot of said base, of a rack-bar adapted to slide between said guidebars and provided with a slotted base-piece and with a pivoted wedging-dog, and a spri 11gactuated pawl and an operating-lever loosely pivoted on a shaft journaled in said projecting lugs, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS II. DONLON.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. SUGGETT, \VM. KENNEDY. 

